Thursday, 11 December 2014

Review: Top Ten Clues you're Clueless by Liz Czukas

Top Five Things That Are Ruining Chloe’s Day
5) Working the 6:30 a.m. shift at GoodFoods Market
4) Crashing a cart into a customer’s car right in front of her snarky coworker Sammi
3) Trying to rock the “drowned rat” look after being caught in a snowstorm
2) Making zero progress with her crush, Tyson (see #3)
1) Being accused—along with her fellow teenage employees—of stealing upwards of $10,000
Chloe would rather be anywhere than locked in work jail (aka the break room) with five of her coworkers . . . even if one of them is Tyson. But if they can band together to clear their names, what looks like a total disaster might just make Chloe’s list of Top Ten Best Moments.

I loved Czukas debut novel Ask Again Later earlier this
year. It was funny, fresh and it was exactly what I was in the mood for at the
time. When I devoured her book in a few days I made the decision there and then
that I would read all of her future books. So when I heard about Top Ten Clues you’re
Clueless, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Unfortunately this story
ended up falling flat for me in a few places.

Chloe was a great character, I liked how she had this
obsession with compiling lists (it reminded me of myself a lot of times, but I’m
one of those that never used to get hardly anything completed from my lists)
and how she would notice a lot of things around her that a lot of people missed
out on. Czukas was also once again able to bring in a wonderful set of
characters just like in Ask Again Later; they were all unique in their own way,
bringing a lot of variety and fun to the story.

I think my biggest downfall from this book was that I was
expecting more from the mystery and the romance. The mystery in the story ended
up being that someone had stolen most of the Christmas fund from the store. However
instead of interviewing all the store staff individually, the manager decides
from a tip off that only select few of the staff members can be responsible. So
he ends up keeping them in the store after closing hours on Christmas Eve until
the police get there and start questioning them. At first I didn’t get how he
could come up with the conclusion that these youngsters could be the ones
responsible, through their individual questioning, they had all denied it and
none of the evidence suggested that they could have done it. Although being
locked in store together sort of did bring these characters much closer
together. In the past they had been quick to make assumptions of each other’s
characters without having said a few words to one another. So it was great that
they were able to break these judgements they had made of one another and
actually form some sort of friendships. But the whole waiting around for the
police to arrive sort of ended up kind of boring for me, yes it was great that
they could all start over, but I sort of wanted more from this part. What was
the point of keeping everyone behind without any real evidence? Also I was kind
of able to guess who the real culprit was kind of early on, it kind of bugged
me that not everyone else was able to realise this.

Then there was the romance, we were told very early on who
Chloe had been crushing on for some time, I think because of this I was
expecting to see more from it over the course of the book, however we kind of
got it all in the end instead. I know so far it may seem as if I’ve just been
complaining about this book, but this isn’t the case at all. I think I just
went into this book with really high expectations after thoroughly enjoying Ask
Again Later. However despite the irks I did have, Czukas once again was able to
give us a super cute read, despite knowing who the culprit was I still found
myself invested in reading until the very last page. Although this book wasn’t
for me, I’m sure it will be for many other readers who are the lookout for a
cute read full with many quirky characters.

14 comments:

I quite enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed the style with the lists and everything. It was something I've never really come across in a book before. For me the romance and the mystery was a bit meh for me. I think the plotline could've been executed better. I found the time frame of the book to be my downfall. It didn't really flow properly for me if I'm honest. Great review Jasprit!

I haven't read anything by this author yet, but I've been meaning to read this book for a while (along with her debut!). However, I'm sorry you didn't totally love this one, Jasprit. I hate going into a book with high expectations and then being disappointed. It seems like Chloe and the other characters were pretty well developed, though, which is always awesome to see. Chloe seems so easy to relate to! The plot seems pretty lacking though: that mystery seems so bleh.

Thanks for the lovely review as always! I'm thinking that this might be one I skip.

With these kind of cute reads I always need a little something more from the romance. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Jasprit, but I'm not quite sure this is completely for me. Still, I've been curious about this one and am so glad you read and reviewed it, dear. Gorgeous, as always. :)

I had very high expectations for this book too, but unfortunately it simply did not live up. :( I was so disappointed with the mystery and the romance as well. I feel like this had the potential to be amazing if those two were well-written because the characters were fantastic. Oh well! I read When Joss Met Matt and it was definitely a better read than this one. I hope you'll like it! :) Lovely review, Jasprit!

Amazing review Jasprit. <3 I'm sorry you had some issues with this book :( It doesn't sound like anything for me, hih. And aw. No romance really until the end of the book? That is DEPRESSING. That would bother me a whole lot. Sigh. I need cute romance, hih :) But I'm glad you still liked this book. <3 thank you for sharing sweetie :)

I think "Top Ten Clues You're Clueless" has gotten many mixed reviews. Some readers really enjoy the story and some don't. This is probably the first review I've read where it's in the middle and I'm just glad I got to read why exactly this story isn't super great, but not terrible either. I'm not sure I'll read it, but if I do, at least I know to go in knowing what I might expect. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Jasprit! :D

You know, much has been said about the tiniest pinch of romance in this book, and I'm sorry to say that I'll probably won't enjoy this one as much due to that very reason. Sorry it didn't work out so well for you, but at least you found some good things to enjoy about it. :)

Yeah, I was expecting more romance in this one as well, especially because THERE WAS SO MUCH FLUFF ROMANCE IN ASK AGAIN LATER. I was slightly disappointed about that too, Jasprit. Glad that I am not alone :D

I had very similar thoughts, J. Ask Again Later is one of my favorite reads this year, so I was expecting the same thing with Top Ten Clues. I definitely wanted more romance - like you said, it was hardly there until the end, but I was expecting a lot more swoon. I thought it was a fun plot with great characters, but it was missing that extra something. :/ Great review!

Hmm. I'm not sure this one is for me. Romance is key and second would be the big mystery plot, and the way you've outlined them has me disappointed already. But I'm glad you found some moments to love about this as well.